Films shot two decades apart reveal environmental recovery and improved livelihoods in Africa
A new film and book, to be launched in London on 5 October, show how community participation in development projects has led to successful agricultural change and environmental recovery in Burkina Faso and Kenya.
They show that despite a growing population, tree cover and food production have both improved because of the tactics local people have adopted to manage their environment.
More People, More Trees
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Director William Critchley shot More People, More Trees in 2009 in areas that he had filmed in the early 1990s to document new, participatory approaches that development agencies and farmers' groups had recently adopted.
These included simple technologies based on improved traditions to conserve soil and water, local capacity building, tree-planting, work with women’s groups and sustained investment.
For More People, More Trees Critchley went back with award-winning producer Josephine Rodgers of Countrywise Communication, to the same communities and development workers, and documented progress that has been made over the last two decades.
The accompanying booklet describes the technologies filmed, provides hard data to support the testimonies in the film, and looks at the current challenges of sustainable land management in a situation of changing climate.
"Land degradation and desertification are not new phenomena in Africa, but historically, projects to combat these problems commonly failed," says Critchley. "Yet these areas of Kenya and Burkina Faso show that population pressures do not necessarily mean increased desertification. Instead there have been spectacular improvements to the local environment and incomes for farming communities there."
Critchley's film and book have drawn praise from development and agriculture specialists.
"This fascinating film shows how small investments can result in huge changes, if appropriate technologies are used and if farmers are fully involved in the development process," said Professor Ian Scoones at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.
Dr Dennis Garrity, Director General, World Agroforestry Centre, said "I strongly commend this work for its portrayal of positive interventions."
Professor Jules Pretty OBE, University of Essex, says the "timely and hugely important film – and companion booklet –make a vital point about environmental recovery in Africa."
Critchley is a specialist in tropical agricultural development, currently based at the VU University Amsterdam where he heads a unit on ‘Sustainable Land Management' at the University's Centre for International Cooperation.
"The heartening signs of progress have been driven largely driven by the land users themselves," he adds. "We can be confident that sustained positive initiatives are underway. It is crucial for governments and development agencies to believe in the possibilities and continue to invest in the greatest untapped resource in Africa: the people themselves"
The film and book are aimed at development policy makers, agricultural extension workers, NGO workers, students and the wider development community
The DVD and book pack is published by Practical Action Publishing (ISBN 978-1-85339-717-2) with support from CTA, International Institute for Environment and Development, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the Global Mechanism of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the VU University (Amsterdam).